Chapter 86: The Investigation
Ningguang: ......
After switching the exhibition hall over to backup power, Ningguang walked to the entrance — and even a woman as unflappable as her found herself briefly at a loss for words at the scene unfolding inside.
Several officers had clustered around the gemstone display in an overlapping ring, and Inspector Nakamori was still tugging at the face of Mouri Kogoro, who had at some point appeared in the hall — the two of them shouting back and forth that the other was none other than Kaito Kid in disguise...
It took an explanation from Lyney, with Conan backing him up, before the two finally released each other and accepted that Kaito Kid had fumbled his heist and already fled.
Setting aside the Kaito Kid interlude in the middle, the jewelry exhibition otherwise drew to a successful close.
Only afterward, when Conan tried to pump Sonoko for information about Lyney and Lynette and Miss Ningguang, did he learn to his disappointment that the siblings had already left Japan to perform elsewhere, and that Miss Ningguang had handed the affairs of the Japanese branch over to someone else before departing for Country M to attend to other projects.
Before leaving, however, Ningguang had given Sonoko the "Radiance of the Stars" gemstone she had been so enamored with, as a token of thanks for all the assistance the Suzuki family had lent the company.
Heh. A gem worth over fifty million, given away on a whim. Just how wealthy were these people?
"So, Shinichi — the trail's gone cold. What are you working on now?"
Professor Agasa asked the question with some curiosity, watching Conan scribble away at the desk in his own home.
Conan kept drawing on the paper as he answered, "No, the trail isn't cold. Lyney and Ningguang may have left, but the others connected to these Visions are still here. We can start investigating from them."
"But..." Professor Agasa hesitated. "Shinichi, you said before that you saw people with these beads in contact with the Black Organization. If they find out you're investigating them and accidentally let something slip to the Organization, what happens when they turn around and start investigating you?"
"Yeah, I've considered that too," Conan said. "So for now, I've decided not to focus the investigation on the people themselves."
After all, everyone he'd seen wearing one of these beads so far had an ironclad, aboveboard identity that could withstand any scrutiny — even when he'd had his father look into them, nothing had turned up. Aside from possessing similar beads and knowing some of each other, there was frankly nothing unusual connecting them at all. Concentrating the investigation on the individuals themselves would probably not get him very far.
"So instead, we focus the investigation on the beads themselves — the one thing they all share." With that, Conan held up the paper he'd been drawing on, pointing to three shapes sketched across it. "There are three designs of Vision frame that I've seen so far. Lisa, Noelle, Mona, Klee, and Kaeya all have the same one; Xiangling and Ningguang share another; and Lyney and Lynette, the sibling pair, share the third. Given that the closely-bonded pairs — Klee and Kaeya, Lyney and Lynette — have matching frames, I can tentatively conclude that the frame design may correspond to whatever group they belong to, or to their personal relationships. But that's not certain yet."
He moved his finger to the lower half of the page. "As for the bead colors, I've counted six so far, each containing a different pattern inside. Judging from the colors and patterns, my guess is that the beads represent different elements — red for fire, deep blue for water, pale blue for ice, purple for lightning, something like that. But I haven't figured out what the yellow and teal Visions represent yet. And what it means that they carry beads containing these elements, I have no idea."
"But there's no way to investigate any of that directly." Conan scratched his head, looking pained. "Anyway, Professor — what I want is for you to search online and see if you can find out what these frames and patterns mean, and check whether there's anyone else out there with beads bearing these designs."
"But none of that's urgent — we can take our time with it later." Conan hopped down from his chair, walked over to the Professor, and handed him the drawing. "What matters right now is the Black Organization."
Professor Agasa looked startled. "Oh? Shinichi, are you saying you've got a lead?"
"Mm." Conan nodded and filled the Professor in on what had happened at the memorial service, pointing out that when the police had conducted their search, Masuyama Kenzo — Pisco — had produced a purple handkerchief that he should never have possessed. Which meant one of his accomplices had been present at the scene.
Seven people in total had been handed a purple handkerchief that night. Subtracting Pisco himself, that left six — and the most suspicious among them was the actress who had recently vanished from public view: Chris Vineyard.
Sharon Vineyard had once studied disguise under the same master magician as her mother, and Chris Vineyard was Sharon's daughter. Rumor had it that mother and daughter were on bad terms, but Conan suspected that Chris, too, was very likely skilled in the art of disguise.
"Lately Haibara keeps saying she can feel someone from the Organization hanging around her," Conan went on. "And add to that what Inspector Takagi mentioned — that Uncle Mouri's case-solving reports were stolen recently and then returned, completely untouched. I'm starting to think Chris may have already infiltrated our circle using disguises, investigating us from the inside."
Then Conan handed Professor Agasa another sheet of paper — the web address of Chris's fan club — asking him to gather intelligence on Chris through her fans. It might prove useful down the line.
"I see, I see. But Kudo, isn't there already a suspicious foreign woman right there around you?"
"Oh, come on — nobody like that exists," Conan shot back.
Wait. That wasn't the Professor's voice just now...
Conan whipped his head around toward where the voice had come from, staring in astonishment at the person who had materialized out of nowhere. "Hattori?! How the hell did you get in here?!"
Professor Agasa explained from the side that he was the one who had called Hattori over to help. He'd been watching Kudo fret over things lately and thought that an extra pair of hands might shake some progress loose.
"Aw, forget the details. I'm Kudo's best friend, after all — of course I'd come help when he's in a bind." Heiji Hattori grinned wickedly and bent down to jab Conan in the arm with his elbow.
Conan: "......"
Seriously? This wasn't some fun little game. What was he getting so worked up about?
"Anyway, back to what we were saying," said Heiji. "Kudo, hasn't a weird foreign woman shown up right around you?"
"You mean Miss Judy?" the Professor chimed in.
Before Conan could stop him, Professor Agasa had already blurted out Miss Judy's name.
Conan glared sideways at Heiji as he cheerfully proposed going to investigate Miss Judy's house.
Heh. Figures. He'd known perfectly well that this was exactly what Heiji would do once he found out. He hadn't wanted Heiji getting tangled up too deeply in the Black Organization's affairs in the first place. But there was no stopping it now — Conan could only agree to go with him to investigate Miss Judy's home.
Before they left, Conan made Professor Agasa promise not to tell Haibara any of this. She wasn't as strong as she appeared, and there was no need to make her worry over it all.
At that moment, Haibara — who had been standing silently behind the door, listening to every word of the conversation between Conan and the Professor — lowered her head. "Idiot..."